concussion

Concussions in Sports: a new perspective on the real danger

by Barry Bittman, MD

There’s a half minute left in the game, the score is tied, the crowd is on their feet and the ball is on the 10 yard line. There isn’t a whisper in the stadium, as the home team quarterback deftly hands the ball off to a junior running back who plows his way, head first through a defensive wall that cannot contain his brute force and determination. As the mound of players peels off the heap, the referee yells, “touchdown” and the crowd goes ballistic. But the running back cannot get up.

The next minute seems like an hour as the coaching staff runs to the field to check the disoriented player whose amazing feat just determined the victory. Dazed and disoriented, he lies there for a moment, refocuses his gaze and soon comes to his senses. After being helped to his feet, he signals “thumbs up,” as the fans break into a roar and a celebration that seems to go on forever. The young star looks forward to next weekend when he can do it again.

I suppose we’ve all witnessed this scenario at one time or another in our community or elsewhere. For some of us, the star has been our teenager or a close friend of the family. We know the agony of those dreaded moments when the player is on the ground and cannot get up, and we’ve rejoiced when they’re back on their feet, in the football stadium or the hockey rink. With a sigh of relief, we typically brush the incident off and do not give it another thought.

Yet, when the applause is over, and our hero settles back into his typical week at school, has anything really changed?

The answer, unfortunately may be yes, and the consequences could be devastating. In a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Michael W. Collins, a neuropsychologist at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit found that ongoing problems seem to occur in individuals who had suffered two or more concussive head injuries. His research, which involved 393 college football players, demonstrated that players who suffered two or more concussions were “significantly more likely to report continuing problems with headaches, sleep and concentration, and they scored significantly worse on paper-and-pencil tests of the ability to learn words, to think quickly and to handle complex tasks.”

If you’re nodding your head in disbelief, and saying to yourself that one cannot suffer a concussion without loss of consciousness, I suggest you read on. Since our player did not pass out, vomit or experience a seizure, you might tend to discount that possibility. Unfortunately, this is an erroneous conclusion. The term, “concussion” actually refers to any alteration in mental function that occurs after a blow to the head. The features of concussion are often rather subtle and sometimes include headaches, balance problems, lightheadedness, irritability or confusion.

According to these researchers, concussions are far more common than you’d imagine¾ affecting more than 63,000 high school athletes a year. And students with learning disorders (up to 12% of college students) are even more likely to suffer ongoing, long-term problems that interfere with the quality of their lives.

As a neurologist, I’m convinced that these new findings demand a closer look at how we approach the issue of sports-related concussions. As parents and concerned community members, I suggest we always err on the side of conservatism when it comes to the well-being of every youth. Let’s adopt this motto: When in doubt, keep the player out!

In our competitive society, mental and physical toughness are learned at a young age. The “no pain – no gain” attitude is pervasive these days, as the determination to win seems to dominate sports even at the pre-pubescent level. Yet the ongoing impact of even minor head injuries cannot be overlooked in an attempt to win at any cost. Joining forces with our dedicated coaches to protect our youth is by far a winning proposition in the long run¾ Mind Over Matter!